Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2008 - (Page 38) During 2008, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will be showcasing photography by Southern artists or by artists interpreting their vision of the South. This Year of Photography will feature Robert Polidori, Jerry Uelsmann, Maggie Taylor, Elliot Erwitt, Stuart Klipper, Sally Mann, Lisa Silvestri and Jorge Otero. Their work covers a range of genres — documentary and surreal, to name two — produced in either black and white or color. Photography Comes of Age Painting, drawings, etchings, printing and sculpture — all can claim long creative lineages. Yet, unlike those other art forms, photography is considered relatively new, with the first permanent photograph produced in 1826 by French inventor Nicephone Niepce. That first photograph was made on a polished pewter plate covered with bitumen, which required an eight-hour exposure in sunshine. Through the years, the process was refined to what we know today, but even up into the mid-20th century, photography was often a labor-intensive process. As a young art, photography allowed artists a freedom to experiment — the only constraints were technology — thereby creating art where there really are no boundaries. A photograph can be black and white, printed in a darkroom; or shot digitally and altered on a computer. The subject can be staged or shot of the moment. Or any combination there of. Photographers and the South Artists in the South embraced this art form and all of its creative possibilities, producing a body of work that is noted for its exploration of themes reflecting this unique culture. The region has also inspired photographers not from the South to engage these subjects in a different manner. As a body of work, Southern photography is perhaps more influenced by national trends than any other medium. Early on, it established itself with two different approaches: documentary and soft-focus pictoralist art. Since then, Southern photography has progressed to the point that it now seems less specifically Southern in attitude while still exploring the region. New Orleans has had a long-standing relationship with photography. Because of its close connection to Europe, photography evolved through its pictorialist views of the city, the souvenirs produced for the tourist trade and portraits. E.J. Bellocq and his photographs of Storyville, photos by the New Orleans Camera Club and contemporary interpretations using the digital camera are all part of the city’s rich tradition of photography. A Storm’s Aftermath Revealed: Robert Polidori Kicking off the year on Jan. 3 was Robert Polidori. A staff photographer for The New Yorker magazine, Polidori came to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. His photographs of damaged homes not only document the destruction, but personalize it for a greater audience. These photographs were published in After the Flood, from which six large-scale color prints are on exhibit at the Ogden, while the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans held a larger companion show. Polidori is recognized as one of the world’s top architecture photographers. In addition to his New Orleans work, he has taken photographs and completed extensive projects in Havana, Versailles in France, New York and Beirut. Torn Between Two Processes: Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann, whose large-scale prints are on exhibit through April 10, focus on related fantasy themes, but apply two very different processes to produce their images. Uelsmann uses traditional darkroom techniques to manipulate his photographs. Taylor uses digital images, scanning and Adobe Photoshop to build her images on the computer. Husband and 38 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Spring 2008 http://www.ogdenmuseum.org
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